Bard in the party... thoughts?

[Slyqc]

Venomous Bite Potency of the venom effect has been increased from 35 to 40.
Windbite Potency of the wind damage over time effect has been increased from 45 to 50.
Blunt Arrow Potency has been increased from 50 to 100.
Flaming Arrow Potency has been increased from 35 to 40.
Mage's Ballad Damage reduction on self has been changed from 15% to 10%.
Cast time has been reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds.
Army's Paeon Damage reduction on self has been changed from 15% to 10%.
Cast time has been reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds.
Foe Requiem Cast time has been reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds.
Battle Voice Recast time has been reduced from 300 to 180 seconds
Empyreal Arrow Potency has been increased from 220 to 230.
Sidewinder Potency when target is suffering from both Venomous Bite and Windbite has been increased from 250 to 260.

Thank you Square Enix.

[Shurrikhan]

Thank you Square Enix. (Those massive Bard buffs)

Such overkill. Though now we'll indisputably be seeing the preponderance of Bards mentioned in the OP.

...and this is coming from someone who prefers and used to main Bard...

[Kelevra]

Thank you Square Enix.

I'm one of the ones that believed Bard did need help, but really didn't think they were gonna do potency increases across several skills. I was thinking something like readjusting Foe's so it'll just recognize Windbite and Flaming Arrow as elemental dmg. That or changing Rain of Death's debuff from evasion down to piercing resistance down.

Not really complaining. Glad Bard finally got something.

[Shurrikhan]

That or changing Rain of Death's debuff from evasion down to piercing resistance down.

Not really complaining. Glad Bard finally got something.

Prior to most healers melding to accuracy cap by themselves, I feel like that would have been a raid DPS loss, actually, not a buff. Prior to those melds, a Bard could easily pull the kind of raid DPS support that a NIN would even without a caster, just because of all the healer dps it could allow by decreasing the accuracy needed to hit enemies. If not for MCHs handling the mechanics of this tier so well, you'd likely have seen a lot more healers go only to maybe an extra 3% accuracy in melds, preferring extra healing and offensive strength through Det/Crit melds instead, and while using Rain of Death for the rest.

Bard already outperforms MCH slightly in the hands of a good player against a dummy or with minimal movement. This level of buffing just was not needed, and breaks many of the previous equivalents between them and MCH. A MCH still roughly loses 80 potency per GCD for promoting its Rook turret, or 60*enemy_count for Bishop, while BRD loses only 10% damage (typically up to 39 potency AoE or an absolute max of 150 potency ST).

I truly would not be surprised if these changes bring BRD back in line with the overpowered beast it began as...